Hellgate will be subs-based

Having banged on yesterday about his desire to appeal to Diablo fans, Flagship Studios CEO Bill Roper has admitted that upcoming PC title Hellgate: London will still have plenty in common with an MMO - including a subscription fee.

Speaking to Shacknews, Roper said that he expected Hellgate to spark a similar debate to the "religious argument" over whether Diablo and Diablo II were RPGs or not - except this time it's "whether it's an MMO or not". Guilds, heavily instanced online and raid-type gameplay ought to provide a clue.

The game's due out this summer, with Namco and EA partnering for its European distribution, but Roper says that interested gamers can expect to experience an open beta sometime prior to that.